Written on the Body: Gorgeous, Sensual Skin Calligraphy

These gorgeous photography pieces by the Israeli artist Ronit Bigal take the metaphor of text as body to a whole other level – and make most tattoos look woefully amateur. Bigal’s series, which we stumbled across on Fubiz, combines prints of photographed naked bodies with calligraphic excerpts of Biblical texts. But these aren’t just exceptionally pretty pictures. By bringing together Bible and body, Bigal’s art offers provocative, sensual ways of reading what’s deemed as sacred text. And yet, much is left unsaid. To an extent, the pieces are abstract; in each photo, we can’t make out the words, and are left wondering where the text stops and parts of the body begin. Bigal poses crucial questions about our relationship to our own bodies and faith – how do we explore these things together? Can we explore these things together? Bigal’s art – in which the body is the ultimate textual surface – entertains the idea that we can.